Third option for voters now on the menuAt the Cotham’s in the City restaurant near the Capitol, two potential candidates for governor are eating lunch at the same long table. That might be awkward if they were both Democrats or Republicans, or if they were one and the other, and both had a chance to win. Instead, they’re both Libertarians — Frank Gilbert, who was elected a Saline County constable last year, and businessman Shawn Hipskind. A third potential candidate, Glen Schwartz,...

Unplugging and relaxingThe news this week of two arrests in the case of a 12-year-old suicide is a reminder of how middle school drama can go awry. When personality clashes move from misunderstanding and conflict to tormenting and bullying, and when there appears to be no safe place — terrible events can occur. Last month, 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick, of Winter Haven, Fla., jumped to her death from the top of an abandoned concrete plant. The two arrests this past we...

Did Congress get ‘special subsidies’ for Obamacare?With over a year to go before the 2014 election, political ads have already hit the airwaves. So buckle up because it is going to be a bumpy ride. One “goosey” ad already has the campaign of Sen. Mark Pryor calling foul. The piece — from the campaign of Republican Rep. Tom Cotton who is challenging Pryor for re-election — is called “Good for the Gander.” “What’s good for the goose ought to be good for the gander but not in Washington,” states ...

Taxes fund schools, governmentWhile much of the nation is preoccupied by the federal government shutdown and a possible default on the nation’s debt, most Arkansas citizens this week had to pay their property taxes. The deadline was Tuesday. Actually, Oct. 15 is a reprieve of sorts, for which we can thank the state Legislature. The deadline had been Oct. 10 for many years. That doesn’t make it much easier for the thousands of people who must pay property taxes once a year....

Shutdown releases racismQuestion: If Ted Cruz and John Boehner were both on a sinking ship, who would be saved? Answer: America. Harsh? Look around you at what is happening to America and you will see harsh. I am not talking about closed parks and monuments. I am talking about the funds cut to nearly 9 million mothers and young children for food, breast-feeding support and infant formula. That is harsh. Making a war against babies is harsh. And for what? Because Ted ...

President know-it-allUnto the jungle gods of politics we commit the bodies of our Republican brethren — earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust — in sure and certain hope of these ignoramuses’ political extinction ... Well, now, isn’t that the media narrative as to the hooting and hollering in Washington, D. C., over debt ceilings, government shutdowns and so on and so on? Is there anything to such talk? I suggest that before moving that discussion forward we...

Gains and losses in bank bailoutsFive years ago, the federal government bailed out the banks. Was it worth it, and what was lost? Timothy Massad, overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, told a Little Rock crowd at the Clinton School of Public Service Sept. 26 that the money the federal government spent on TARP – for the banks, AIG, and the auto industry – has been largely paid back. In return, he said, the economy and financial system were saved and a second Great Depr...

High-tech disaster prepLITTLE ROCK — Emergencies and disasters are frightening times that cannot usually be anticipated. That’s why, in Arkansas, we constantly look for new and innovative ways to prepare ourselves for such events. So it should be no surprise Arkansas is the first state to have two new online tools available to our residents and communities. The Smart911 system was first implemented late last year. It allows users to confidentially store safety profi...

Budget battle previews Senate fightLITTLE ROCK — The stalemate over spending and the health care law that has left the federal government partially shut down could be resolved in a matter of days or weeks. But the rhetoric surrounding the debate is likely to live on much longer in Arkansas. With more than a year until Election Day, the shutdown fight is offering voters a preview of the multi-million air war they can expect between Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and Republican Rep. ...

The case for learning optimismThe current budget impasse might have made you a bit blue. Ups and downs are normal in life, but when the potential of a debt default is the news, it’s easy to forget the ups. In ”Learned Optimism, How to Change Your Mind and Your Life,” Martin Seligman provides a map to a more optimistic outlook. As a graduate student in experimental psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, Seligman studied dogs and noticed that some would do nothing whe...

U.S. Marshals MuseumThe city of Fort Smith is now the second-largest city in our state and is unique for many reasons. Back in the early days of our nation’s history, this scrappy border town grew up around the area’s first frontier fort established in 1817 to promote peace between the warring Indian tribes of the Osage and Cherokee. Remains of the first fort lie within the Fort Smith National Historic Site perched on a bluff overlooking the Arkansas River. At th...

Letters to the editor (Oct. 10, 2013)Animal Control not in control Around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, a large pit-bull mix dog rushed at me as I was running near the intersection of W. 2nd St. and Independence Ave. I sprinted across the street to get away and tripped and fell on the curb, receiving large and painful contusions and abrasions on both knees and an elbow. I was extremely frightened, as this particular animal has rushed and nipped at me several times before during ...

Calling for the death of the ‘newspapers are dead’ rumorI know of newspapers that kept their communities informed about clean water and shelter during terrible storms and disasters. I know of newspapers that exposed crooks, lost a lot of advertising from the crooks’ buddies and still put out a paper every week. I know of a newspaper that had an ironic sense of humor that even offended a few readers and stood its ground with a “come on people, have a brain” retort. I know of publishers who took pay ...

Pay special attention to your ‘dash’ periodWe were in the Hot Springs High School class before the one that became famous. Our class didn’t have a reunion at the White House, and we didn’t get invited to the one that did. But we got together again over the past weekend for what I called our Medicare-Social Security reunion. It has been a little more than 50 years since the Class of 1963 walked across the stage of the HSHS field house to accept our diplomas, and a few years ago we disco...

D.C. dysfunction grows from lack of compromiseIt is hard to imagine how Washington D.C. could be more dysfunctional that it is right now. As I’m writing, Republicans and Democrats are digging in, insisting they are right and the other side is wrong. Meanwhile, most Americas are losing interest in the partisan political argument and strategizing; they care more about whether the trains will run on time. The whole situation reminds me of a scene from a Broadway play, “Into the Woods.” The p...

Dear JohnHey there, Mr. Speaker. Good to hear that you’ve decided that the United States shouldn’t default on its obligations, and that you’re willing to violate the “Hastert Rule” — the informal rule that the Speaker shouldn’t bring up a bill that doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans, even if the bill does have the support of a majority of the members of Congress — to protect the full faith and credit of the United States. But what ab...

Obama attacking economy for own gainNever before has an American president threatened and risked the U.S. economy and financial markets the way Barack Obama has in recent days. For his own narrow political ends, Obama and his minions have actually accused the Republican party of deliberately provoking a Treasury debt default because they don’t agree with the Obama position on the continuing budget resolution and the debt ceiling. “As reckless as a government shutdown is ... an e...

Pie makers storiesRecently this column touched on the importance of regional baking traditions. At the McElroy House: Organization for Folklife, Oral History, and Community Action, myself and Marie Williams have been working on a series of events highlighting the stories of a few of our region’s local pie makers to be featured in our Pies for Pavement event in partnership with the Russellville Community Market. Below are just a few of the pie makers’ stories. W...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

State tries to find balance on health lawLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas receives final approval to expand coverage to 250,000 low-income workers using a key part of the federal health care law. Days later, some of the same Republicans who crafted that plan reject efforts to promote the exchanges set up under the federal health care law. The state’s Republican congressmen and senator back efforts to tie defunding the federal health care law to spending bills, prompting a federal government sh...

What should be done about students like Lidia?When leaders of eight Arkansas higher learning institutions sent a letter to Congress recently calling for immigration reform, among their arguments was that undocumented students brought to America as children struggle to access college — a waste of their talents, both for them and for society. They didn’t mention specific students, but they were talking about people like Lidia Mondragon. Lidia is a native of Guerrero, Mexico, where her famil...